Making It "Facebook Official"

Begin the music. Hear the violins cry and the electric guitar and piano fill the room. Just imagine Chris and I are singing and we sound like…let’s see...David Crowder and Christy Nockels (cause that's how we sound in our heads):

“You called us out upon the waters, (we called it "risking the ocean”) The great unknown where feet may fail... and there we found You in the mystery, in oceans deep, our faith did stand. And we did call upon Your name. And kept our eyes above the waves. When oceans rose, our souls did rest in Your embrace. For we are Yours, and You are ours!"

Are you hearing it? Isn't it beautiful?  

We've got so much to share about how God has been working in and through our lives this past year, but it's just sooo much. Let’s begin with…

When we returned to Haiti in January it was cold…so cold. We know you won’t believe it but we both slept with long pants (tucked into our socks), long sleeves (even a hoodie sometimes - with the hood up) under 3 blankets and still felt a chill in the air. We had relocated much higher into the mountains and the cold seemed to draw us even closer in our relationship with God as we found warmth in  growing in Him. Leadership was the topic of much of our reading and conversation during this time and God began to open our eyes, minds, and hearts to leadership lessons in our lives and in the ministry of A Door to Hope. It is very difficult to describe but we knew God was up to something and we began to pray and pray long and hard. We asked those closest to us to pray with us. And we put our hearts to the ground and begged for clarity. We had stepped out into “the great unknown” as we stepped off the plane to live in Haiti for this year and we felt once again that another “great unknown” was before us.

"Your grace abounds in deepest waters. Your sovereign hand will be our guide. Where feet may fail and fear surrounds us, you've never failed and You won't start now. So we did call upon Your name. And kept our eyes above the waves. When oceans rose our souls found rest in Your embrace, for we are Yours, and You are ours!" 

We had a wonderful month of March leading two teams (mostly from Tennessee) in Grand Goave and then had a week or two to catch up on paperwork. It was during this time that Chris became ill and really never could catch back up to full health.

So, in April we were heading back to the US for a break for a few weeks. Much of the time was spent dealing with doctors and running tests to determine why Chris’ digestive system had gone bazooka on itself. He was dealing with a lot of pain and discomfort. But, we had one very special time to getaway that a friend gave us – at her beach house! We took Brynna and it was awesome! It was during that week that we were drawn to a Church that had been praying and seeking the Lord’s timing in bringing a particular Pastor to join their team. We shook hands with the Senior Pastor, some of the lead Pastors, board members and sat down and shared life with them. This set off a series of encounters where they wanted to know more and we wondered what God was up to. We came back to Haiti in May and said, “Hey! Was that the Lord making the “Unknown” known?”

Through much struggle and prayer, we came to realize that God had placed us in Haiti to provide leadership for the A Door to Hope ministry in Haiti but our role as leaders had reached a limit. It was difficult to think that we might be leaving Haiti because it just seems so unspiritual to say that we are leaving the mission field. But we knew that this was exactly how God was leading in our lives. Once again we stepped out in faith and said to the Lord….we will follow wherever you lead us.

It was very near the end of May that Chris turned in his resignation letter to A Door to Hope and signed an offer from Friendswood Community Church to become the Pastor of Living Hope Houston. We offered to stay with A Door to Hope throughout the summer to finish leading the many mission teams coming and going this summer. We already have a wonderful relationship with Friendswood Community Church as Chris has had the privilege of leading their teams to Haiti for the past three summers. Pastor Kevin is the one from FCC who listened to the Holy Spirit when it didn’t make sense and pursued us for a Pastoral position at the Church. It is with great anticipation that we will leave Haiti on August 3^rd and not return in the same capacity. We will journey to Louisville to share in the celebration of the union of our son, Josiah to Katie Hennessy on August 8^th and then set out for Friendswood, Texas the very next week with Brynna as our own little family of three.

We thank you from the very depths of our hearts for your many encouraging words and deep prayers for us this past year. There is just no way we could have pressed on in following God’s calling in Haiti without it…we are sure of it.

“Spirit lead us where our trust is without borders. Let us walk upon the waters wherever You would call us. Take us deeper than our feet could ever wander. And our faith will be made stronger in the presence of our Savior!”